How does Miller use Alfieri to inspire Sympathy for Eddie? Essay

How does Miller use Alfieri to inspire Sympathy for Eddie? How successful is he? In his play â€Å"A View from the Bridge†, Arthur Miller intends us to feel sympathy towards the protagonist, Eddie Carbone. Miller wants the audience to view Eddie positively, however Eddie displays negative personality traits like aggression, violence and over-protectiveness therefore there is a conflict between how Miller wants us to feel, that Eddie is a tragic hero, and how he actually does behave. The narrator Alfieri is deployed to often defend or explain Eddie’s actions. After Eddie has shown a negative characteristic, Alfieri is deployed to get the audience back on Eddie’s side. Without Alfieri, the audience would dislike Eddie and would immediately reject him. The audience’s views towards Eddie are constantly shifting throughout the play. Miller, like many playwrights, was influenced by Greek theatre. Alfieri’s role is similar to the way the chorus operated in Greek tragedy because he comments on the action throughout the play. Our first impressions of Alfieri are positive. In the ancillary text, he is described as, â€Å"a lawyer in his fifties† which suggests that he is an educated and mature man. Alfieri is well dressed in a suit and is very well mannered. It is extremely important that the audience likes and trusts Alfieri if he is to influence the audience’s views of Eddie during the play. This is why Alfieri is dressed smartly and looks experienced right at the beginning of the play. He speaks directly to the audience in an approachable and friendly way using the personal pronoun â€Å"you† which shows that he is trying to build a rapport with the audience right from the start of the play. Alfieri is articulate a... ...e is an element of contradiction to Alfieri’s final words because he believes that it is wise to compromise and yet he loves Eddie who refused to. This shows that it is not possible to have a fixed view on Eddie throughout the whole play. Miller uses Alfieri to constantly shift the audience’s view of Eddie by deploying Alfieri every time Eddie shows a negative trait. I think Alfieri finally does inspire sympathy for Eddie although some people may not sympathise with him but completely dislike him because of his negative behaviour. This is Miller’s intention throughout the play because of his use of Alfieri. I do not sympathise with Eddie but i pity him because he knew no better and he was a product of his cultural background. Eddie was not fully equipped for the predicament he faced and his limited intellect led to a tragic event at the end of the play.